Mail-box.



A. K. SMITH & E. A. KUMMING.

MAIL Box.

I v AUPPLIGATION IILBD 111111.12, 1910. y

986,951, Patented Mar. 14, 1911.v

Unno

STATES PATEN T FFTCE.

Ol*1 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNORS, BY CHUTE COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NE'VV MAIL-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 12, 1910.

llaten'tetl Mar. 1+i, 1.911.. Serial No. 548,897.

To all whom tt may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR K. SMITH and EMU. A. KUMMING, both citizens ot' the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Maildoxes. of which the followingl is a It'ull, clear, and exact. description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part oitl this specification, in which- Figure l :is a side elevation of a mail box oit' our in'iproved construction the upper end thereof being shown in vertical section. Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 22 oit Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 ot' Fig. 2.

Uur invention relates particularly to that type of boxes or receptacles which are located at the lower end of mail chutes such as are now in general use in ottiee buildings, hotels and the like.

The principal object of our invention is to removably arrange a mail bag within 'the mail box or receptacle with the month of the bag open so that all mail matter deposited in the mail chute will drop into the bag and which bagl automatically closes and is looked when the door et the box or receptacle is opened by the mail collector. Such an arrangement prevents the person collecting the mail from handling the individual pieces o'l' mail matter, thus saving considerable time in the collection of mail and insuringthe safety ot' all oit' the mail matter taken from the chute as the closed and locked bags are transported to the` post-ottico by the collector and there opened by the proper clerk or official.

To the above purposes our invention eonsists in certain novel features et' construction and a1 "angement of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, l designates a box or housing located at the lower end of a mail chute 2 and formed in One of the walls of said, box is an opening 3 normally closed by a door 4t. This door is provided with a suitable lock, the key ot' which is held by the post-office employee who serves as mail collector.

Formed on or fixed to the inside of the door t at a point near the top thereof is an inwardly projecting lug 5 on the end of which is termed a hook Formed on or fixed to the inner 'tace of the wall ot' the box above the lug 5 .is an ear T and iournaled tor rotation therein is a rock shatt t4. [fixed on one end of this rock shat't' is a depending linger t) and pivotally arranged on the lower end o't said finger in such a manner as to swing jtreely forward is a trigger l() which when the door lis closed engages behind the hook (S.

Arranged on the end oil. the rock shaft 8 opposite the end on which the linger E) is arranged is an upwardly projecting arm 1t to the upper end oi which is pivoted the 'torvard end ot a link 12, the rear end oi. which is pivoted to ahook 13, which latter is journaled on a stud or pi n 14; depending from the top ot the box l. This hook lil is arranged directly opposite the opening in the top of the box, which communicates with the lower end oit' the chute 2, and fixed to the inner face ot the side wall ol the box directly opposite this hook i3 is a second hook 15.

lo designates a mail bag the mouth of which is provided with a pair of spring frames 17 similar to the iframes employed on traveling bags. and the springs are arranged on the hinge joints between said trames and normally tend to close said trames. These :frames are provided with a spring lock, the key ot which is held by the proper postal clerk or otlicial.

Located on the ends ot' the spring frames 17 and at the hinge joints thereof are loops or eyes 18 which when the bag is properly positioned within the box are engaged by the hooks 13 and Willen the bag 1G is properly positioned within the box l, the hooks 1T engage in the loops or eyes 18 and the spring frames 17 bear against the top of the box, thus holding the mouth oi the bag open, and all mail matter deposited in the chute 2 will discharge from the lower end thcreo'tl into the open mouth ot' the bag. IVhile the door -ft ot the box 1 is closed, the hook G on the end o't' the lng 5 engages the lower end oi the trigger l0 and holds the same and the parts 9, 8, ll and 12 in the positions seen in Figs. l, 2 and 3 and thus the hook 1.3 is normally held in engagement with the corresponding one ot the loops or eyes 18. When the door l is opened by the mail collector the lug 5 is drawn outward with the door, which movement pulls the trigger 10 toward the wall of the box on which the door is located, thus slightly swinging the depending finger 9 and rocking the shaft 8. This movement swings the upper end of the arm 11 and the connecting rod rearward, in turn swinging the hook 13 upon its pivot and causing the point thereof to disengage from the corresponding loop or eye 18. This movement releases one side of the mail bag and as the upper portion of said bag drops the spring frames instantly swing together, thus closing and locking the mouth of the bag. rThe bag is now disengaged from the hook 15 and removed from the box, after which an empty bag is positioned in the box with the spring frame open and bearing against the top of the box, and with the loops or eyes 18 engaged upon the hooks 18 and 15. lVith the parts so arranged the lower end of the trigger 10 is directed in the path oit' travel of the hook G and when the door 4: is closed by the collector, said hook 6 will strike against the trigger 10 causing the same to swing inward. As the lower end of the trigger passes the hook 6, said trigger will by gravity swing into a vertical position with its lower end directly in the path of travel of the hook G when the same is subsequently drawn outward with the door.

A mail box of our improved construction is comparatively simple, and can be utilized as an ordinary street letter box, or in connection with a mail chute. The mail receiving` bag located within the box is automatically closed and locked whenever the door of the box is opened, thus providing safeguard against loss through the dishonesty of the mail collector.

Tt will be readily understood that minor changes in the construction, arrangement and combination of the several parts of our improved device can be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the end and principle of our invention.

TWe claim:

1. The combination with a mail box having an inlet opening, oi' a self closing mail bag removably positioned within the box, means for supporting the bag within the box with the mouth of said bag open,and a portion of which supporting means is connected to and released by the door of the mail box when the same is opened.

2. The combination with a mail box having an inlet opening, ,of a mail bag adapted to be positioned within the box beneath the opening, a self-closing frame around the mouth of said bag, which frame bears against the top of positioned therein and a bag releasing means arranged within the box for normally supporting the bag in proper position and which releasing means is actuated by the opening movement of the door of the box.

8. The combination with a mail box having an inlet opening of a mail bag adapted to be positioned within the box beneath said opening, a self-closing trame around the mouth of the bag, side or' the bag, a movable support for the opposite side of the bag, a door on the box and releasing mechanism actuated by said door and connected to the movable support for the bag.

il. The combination with a mail box having an inlet opening, of a mail bag adapted to be vpositioned within the box beneath said inlet opening, `frames hinged to one another and arranged around the mouth of the bag, a self-acting lock on said trames, supporting means within the box for maintaining the :trames y in an open position against the under side of the top of the box, a portion of which supporting means is releasable, and means on the door of the box for engaging the releasable means while the door is closed and actuating said releasable means when the door is open.

ln testimony whereof, we hereunto aflix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses, this first day of March, 1910.

ARTHUR K. SMITH. EML A. KUMMTNG. litnesses J. S. MosLANx, THOMAS LANGFORD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

the box when the bag is a fixed support for one` a pair of spring-pressed 

